There were applications to Oxbridge this year. It just highlights how top UK universities view the IB.
Aside from that, the CH IB coursework, is not marked to the IB standard. Apparently, several students lost 25% of marks once the science coursework was moderated.

Look, I think the exam is great! It is just the administration surrounding it that makes it not fit for purpose in the UK!
However, if your son or daughter has already embarked upon the course, you are now one step ahead and have time on your side.

Last edited by IB63 on Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm quite sure there must also be A level students whose Oxbridge applications were unsuccessful! However, I would tend to agree that Oxbridge set the bar particularly high for IB students. I know that when my son was considering his University options Cambridge were asking for 42 points, a score which is achieved by less than 1% of IB candidates internationally*. When you compare that to the percentage of students gaining straight A*/ A grades at A level it does seem to be an unrealistic and unfair demand. It’s also worth remembering that medical schools are likely to be looking for students with three sciences at A level, something that the structure of the IB does not allow. So in summary, if your child wants to go to Oxbridge and/or study medicine, they‘ll probably be better off sticking to the traditional A level route!

On the other hand, I notice that a number of this year’s CH IB students are heading on to European Universities. This is an increasingly popular option for UK students, and the IB is the ideal route into Universities abroad. It’s horses for courses, and your child should think very carefully about what and where they want to study before making this crucial choice. I trust CH will offer sensible advice in these matters – after all the school has nothing to gain by encouraging students onto a course that won’t suit them!

* For one third of the CH IB cohort to score 40+ is a fantastic achievement! (Although if the average score was 37, this must presumably indicate that another one third of the students might not have reached the 36 point benchmark required for entry to most Russell Group University courses...). I'm very interested in IB63's comments about science coursework moderation, as this was also the experience for my DS - I think this highlights again that the IB is unpredictable, and that schools aren't able to manipulate outcomes in the same way that they can with A levels.

It's a shame we can't get my Barnes B contemporary, Geoff Neuss involved in the discussion

Geoffrey Neuss has over thirty years experience teaching and examining the IB Diploma programme and an in-depth, ongoing familiarity with how the IB functions. He has a Ph.D. in organometallic chemistry and has written several IB Chemistry books and led over 100 workshops for teachers worldwide.

My two sons did the IB in the mid 1990's and the elder got into Aberdeen and the younger, Surrey, and are now a Ph.D and M.Sc, both working as consultants, so it did neither of them much harm.

I don't know what happens today but universities seemed to have a fair amount of latitude in the results they needed before looking at an application, so we actually shopped around before submitting applications.

The reason why so many marks are lost in IB course work moderation is because when a sample is taken, whatever mark is given, to the sample, it is then applied to the rest of the cohort. It would be lovely to believe that it would also go up, but sadly, it usually means course work gets moderated down.

So even if your son or daughter has a perfect grade in their course work, it WILL GET THE ALTERED GRADE OF THE MODERATED SAMPLE.!!!

What is the point in not being personally examined?
How can we ensure that it is being administered correctly?

As I previuosly said, there is no body overseeing the administration. The IB is totally self regulating and is actually covered by SWISS law.

Even if A levels operate in the same way, the big difference is that you can re-take the practical...and UCAS need never know.
It is a totally unlevel playing field and I believe CH have not been straight in their information on the administration of it.

Good luck to all student's currently taking it. It is a great exam, but, as I said before, it is not ' fit for purpose' if you intend to study in the UK.